Ambode’s Lake Rice: Matters arising

While the euphoria that greeted the sale and distribution of the Lagos/Kebbi Rice initiative begins to wind down, one will not forget in a hurry, the news of the Memorandum of Understanding which was recently consummated between the two aforementioned states on the production and marketing of this fast-growing Nigeria’s most staple food – rice.

Needless dabbling into the nitty gritty of the agreement. It is pertinent to point out here that the consuming public was kept longer than necessary while the speculation lasted, concerning the delivery date, modalities and pricing and name. Not much was done to bring things to the public knowledge until a few days preceding the Christmas and New Year period when the true picture began to crystallise.

At the end, decision was taken by the state government to the effect of distributing the commodity across designated centres, mainly at local government areas.

There is no doubt that the delay might have been occasioned by certain logistics such as adoption of appropriate name for the product, channel of distribution, pricing among others.

Before the final decision, feelers had brandished different names such as Ambode Rice, Laskeb Rice, etc, ostensibly to reflect the nomenclature and mutual interest of the states involved in the collaboration, until the name ‘Lake Rice’ eventually emerged. On the lips of many Lagosians, let there be rice! It does not matter in whatever name, but enough of the commodity to go round to desiring citizens.

It is important to equally note that at the unveiling ceremony, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, in his magnanimity, further crashed the price from the speculated N13,000 to N12,000.

Frankly speaking, the governor deserves encomium for blazing the trail in this arrangement, no matter the shortcomings. Those within Lagos State may not appreciate what it took an average Nigerian outside the state to procure a bag of rice during the last festive period, in terms of psychological stress and cost. While I may stop at that, it is also instructive to appeal to the Federal Government to take a leaf from the Lagos example, in order to ameliorate the excruciating pains and hunger ravaging the suffering masses.

In short, with the position of Lagos State as a mini-Nigeria, the Federal Government owes a lot of gratitude to the state for making the Yuletide period worth the while for some of its inhabitants, notwithstanding that I have neither seen a grain of the said Lake Rice, (except in the press) nor encountered anyone who can attest to its quality. This is against the backdrop that it is needless for residents of major rural communities to embark on the rice adventure beyond their catchment areas, since it would have amounted to a futility. For instance, any prospective buyer coming from the adjourning towns of Ijagemo, in the Iba LCDA to and fro Ijegun – Ikotun would have spent not less than N6,000 to convey the rice from the closest selling point in any of the urban areas.